Additional Costs Allowance

Norman Baker: To ask the Leader of the House what percentage of hon. Members have claimed  (a) the maximum amount of additional costs allowance available and  (b) money from both the London supplement and the additional costs allowance in each year since 2001.

Jack Straw: The percentage of hon. Members who have claimed the maximum amount of additional costs allowance in each year since 2001 is shown in the following table. The figures for 2005-06 are currently being compiled and will be published later this month.
	
		
			  MPs claiming maximum ACA 
			   Percentage 
			 2001-02 8.6 
			 2002-03 35.5 
			 2003-04 23.2 
			 2004-05 28.5 
		
	
	The percentage of hon. Members who have claimed both the London supplement (LS) and the additional costs allowance in each year since 2001, until the ability to claim both allowances was withdrawn in 2005-06, is as follows:
	
		
			  MPs claiming maximum LS and ACA 
			   Percentage 
			 2001-02 16.2 
			 2002-03 13.8 
			 2003-04 13.8 
			 2004-05 12.3

Departmental Expenditure

David Davies: To ask the Leader of the House how much his Office has spent on taxis in the last12 months.

Jack Straw: The Leader of the House of Commons' Office has spent £4,084.60 on taxis in the last12 months.

Party Political Spending

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Leader of the House what plans there are to limit party political spending in individual constituencies outside the 12 months period immediately prior to a general election.

Jack Straw: Sir Hayden Phillips is currently undertaking an independent review of the funding of political parties. He has been asked to aim to produce recommendations that are as much as possible agreed between the political parties with a view to legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.
	Sir Hayden Phillips will be publishing an interim assessment later this week. He has been asked to report to the Prime Minister before the end of December 2006. The Government will carefully consider his final conclusions, including any proposals to limit party political spending in individual constituencies outside the 12-month period immediately prior to a general election.

Local Government Finance

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the implications are for local authorities of replacing capital grants with the power of prudential borrowing which authorities have contacted her on this issue; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Since the prudential borrowing system began on 1 April 2004, local authorities have been free to borrow for capital projects without Government consent, provided that they can afford the loan charges without extra Government grant. However, the Government have continued to support the major part of authorities' capital programmes, by a mixture of revenue grants for loan charges plus capital grants. Future levels of capital support and the mechanisms for delivering it are being considered in the Government's current spending review.

Local Government Finance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made with the reform of local government finance.

Phil Woolas: My right hon. Friends, the Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister appointed Sir Michael Lyons to undertake an independent inquiry into local government finance, later extended to also cover the future strategic role and function of local government. To date, Sir Michael has published two documents—a Consultation Paper and Interim Report in December 2005 and a discussion paper in May 2006, "National prosperity, local choice and civic engagement". These are available on the Lyons Inquiry website (www.lyonsinquiry.org). Sir Michael is due to submit his final report to the Chancellor and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in December 2006.
	The Government will not take any decisions on local government finance until it has had the chance to fully consider Sir Michael's report and recommendations.

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) powers and  (b) duties are of local authorities in relation to enhancing areas of outstanding natural beauty; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: Most, but not all, areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs) are managed by their constituent local authorities. Local authorities have no powers specifically aimed at AONBs. However, they must follow their duty to have regard, to the purpose of AONB designation in order to conserve and enhance the natural beauty.
	Further information is available on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/issues/landscap/pdf/authorityduties-guidancenote.pdf.

Avian Influenza

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which non-poultry rare breeds would be excluded from a cull if an outbreak of avian inluenza occurs; and whether all bird species on the Red Data List will be excluded from such a cull.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 16 October 2006
	In the event of an outbreak of avian influenza, our policy is to stamp out the disease as quickly as possible in accordance with the EU directive for the control of avian influenza (2005/94/EU). Culling of the affected flock and any dangerous contacts, together with stringent controls around the affected premises, is the best way of dealing rapidly with an outbreak.
	However, for certain birds, subject to a veterinary risk assessment, the directive provides for a derogation from the requirement to cull.
	This derogation extends to officially recognised rare breeds of poultry and other captive birds. Following discussions with the relevant societies for captive birds, the crested canary has been officially recognised for this purpose. It can also be applied to premises such as non-commercial premises, wildlife parks and zoos.
	Conservation of endangered species is covered separately under the derogation. Species considered threatened under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of threatened species could benefit.

Badgers

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what evidential basis the randomised badger culling trials were stopped; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: When the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) was designed, statistical power calculations were performed which indicated that, to be sufficiently precise to detect a 20 per cent. reduction in tuberculosis (TB) incidence associated with either culling treatment, 50 "triplet years" worth of data would have to be collected.
	In 2003, the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB (ISO) detected a statistically significant result for the reactive element of the RBCT that indicated an increase in confirmed TB incidence in cattle in reactive areas compared to survey-only areas. Under agreed operating procedures the ISG was obliged to bring this to the attention of Ministers, who concluded that the reactive culling operations should be discontinued. Reactive culling was suspended in November 2003.
	By the end of the 2005 planned proactive culling operations, the target of 50 triplet year's of data collection had been achieved, and proactive culling therefore ceased. Surveying work continued into March 2006, by which time data for 51.6 triplet years had been collected.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been raised  (a) in total and  (b) on average from selling the carcases of tuberculosis test failure cattle in each year between 2000 and 2006.

Ben Bradshaw: The following table provides (i) the number of cattle slaughtered under bovine tuberculosis control measures in Great Britain and (ii) the amount received in salvage payments (after cost deductions for haulage, meat inspection etcetera) between 2000 and 2006. It is not possible to provide an average cost per carcass because not all cattle are slaughtered in licensed slaughterhouses for potential human consumption. Therefore, an average cannot be derived simply by dividing the total salvage payment by number of cattle slaughtered. It is not possible to extract the information required to calculate a meaningful average from the State Veterinary Service database.
	
		
			   (i) Total number of cattle slaughtered under TB control measures( 1)  (ii) Total salvage payment from sale of carcasses in £ million 
			 2006(2) 13,917 1.8 
			 2005 30,063 4.4 
			 2004 23,064 2.7 
			 2003 23,821 3.6 
			 2002 (3)23,744 3.0 
			 2001 (3)6,549 0.7 
			 2000 8,682 1.2 
			 (1) Reactors, inconclusive reactors and direct contacts.(2) 2006 figures cover the period January to August only. Provisional data, subject to change as (i) further test data and (ii) further salvage receipts become available.(3) In 2001, the TB testing and control programme was largely suspended due to the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak. When testing resumed in 2002, resources were concentrated on herds with overdue TB tests which would have had a longer period in which to contract the disease. Also, the proportion of high risk herds tested immediately after the FMD outbreak was greater than that prior to the outbreak. As a result, the number of cattle slaughtered in 2001 and 2002 is not comparable with other years.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle showed lesions after slaughter in each year between 2000 and 2006.

Ben Bradshaw: Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle is confirmed by identification of visible lesions at post-mortem inspection and/or by laboratory testing of samples taken from carcasses. The number of animals in which bTB was confirmed annually in Great Britain, between 2000 and 2006, is given in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of confirmed TB reactors in GB 
			 2006(1) 4,663 
			 2005 8,657 
			 2004 6,422 
			 2003 6,308 
			 2002(2) 6,993 
			 2001(2) 2,342 
			 2000 3,644 
			 (1) Provisional statistics for 1 January to 31 August 2006 only. (2) In 2001, the TB testing and control programme was largely suspended due to the foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. When testing resumed in 2002, resources were concentrated on herds with overdue TB tests which would have had a longer period in which to contract the disease. Also, the proportion of high risk herds tested immediately after the FMD outbreak was greater than that prior to the outbreak. As a result, data for 2001 and 2002 are not directly comparable with other years. 
		
	
	It is important to bear in mind that failure to confirm the disease at post-mortem examination or by laboratory culture does not mean that the disease was not present in the animal, or that the animal had not been in contact with bTB. In the early stages of the disease, it is not always possible to see lesions withthe naked eye and, due to the fastidious nature of the organism, it is not possible to culture from samples in every case.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average cost of a pre-movement tuberculosis test was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Ben Bradshaw: A pre-movement tuberculosis test is a private transaction between an individual farmer and his or her local veterinary inspector. However, the Government are continuing to fund the provision of tuberculin and all routine tuberculosis surveillance tests and this is estimated to cost about £40 milliona year. Where animals are moved within 60 days of a routine test being conducted, there is no need for a further pre-movement test.

Departmental Staff

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of  (a) staff and  (b) new staff employed since April 2005 in (i) his Department and (ii) each of the agencies for which he has responsibility is recorded as disabled.

Barry Gardiner: Information on the disability status of staff is available via the Cabinet Office website at
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/publications/xls/report_2005/table_p.xls
	Disability is self-declared and voluntary.
	Since April 2005 approximately 4 per cent. of all new entrants to the Core Department and the Agencies covered by the Department's personnel database have declared a disability. The proportions for the core Department and individual Agencies are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Department/Agency  New entrants with a declared a disability (percentage) 
			 Core Defray 4 
			 State Veterinary Service 5 
			 Pesticides Safety Directorate(1) 0 
			 Government Decontamination Service(1) 6 
			 Veterinary Medicines Directorate(1) 0 
			 Marine Fisheries Agency(1) 6 
			 Rural Development Service 5 
			 (1) These Agencies recruited fewer than 20 staff in this period. 
		
	
	Data for the remaining Agencies i.e. the Central Science Laboratory, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, the Rural Payments Agency, and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Sciences is held by the Agencies. It has not been provided due to the disproportionate cost involved in collating the information.

London (Waste)

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to reduce the amount of London's waste that is transported to other regions; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what progress has been made in London to meet its 2010 Landfill Allowances Trading Scheme targets; which elements of the package of measures for waste management set out in the Government's proposals for additional powers and responsibilities for the mayor and the Assembly address such progress to such targets; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The package of measures set out by the Government provides the Mayor with increased powers and responsibility to deliver his municipal waste management strategy and spatial development strategy for London. The enhancement of his powers to require waste authorities to deliver services in general conformity with his strategy, along with his existing power of direction, will help ensure the strategic vision the Mayor sets out for London is delivered on the ground.
	The Waste and Recycling Forum, announced as part of the package, will be led by the Mayor to co-ordinate activity across different sectors and address the key strategic issues facing London. The Waste and Recycling Fund is associated with this and will help the Mayor to address these key strategic issues.
	In addition, there will be a dedicated London element to the Waste Infrastructure Development Programme (WIDP), which was announced in May 2006, providing a strong role for the Mayor in working with local authorities and the regions to accelerate the building of new waste diversion infrastructure, allowing London to manage more of its waste within London.
	The Mayor already has a leading role in planning for London's waste treatment needs through the London Plan, where he has set a target for London to be 85 per cent. self sufficient for waste management by 2020.
	This will significantly reduce the pressure on surrounding regions. The Mayor will also have increased powers related to planning and will now have the power to take over and decide on planning applications that are strategically important to London.
	London authorities are making good progress towards meeting their 2010 Landfill AllowanceTrading Scheme (LATS) obligations. I announced on 12 October that—subject to final confirmation by the Environment Agency—all England's waste authorities were within their allocation of landfill allowances for the first scheme year of LATS (2005-06).
	Information about the performance of all waste disposal authorities in England with respect to allocated allowances is available on the LATS public register at: http://lats.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=register&Module=publicRegister/registerMain

Ragwort

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions have taken place under the Ragwort Control Act 2003; what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of that Act; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The Weeds Act 1959 enables the Secretary of State to serve an enforcement notice on an occupier of land on which injurious weeds are growing, requiring them to take action to prevent the spread of weeds. It is an offence to unreasonably fail to comply with an enforcement notice served under the Act. The Act also enables the Secretary of State to take default action to clear weeds, where control action has not been taken following the issue of an enforcement notice.
	Defra takes action under the Weeds Act where there is a risk to the welfare of horses and other livestock. Under revised procedures for investigating complaints about injurious weeds, introduced in 2003, Defra has made far greater use of the statutory powers available under the Weeds Act. To date we have issued 134 enforcement notices and taken clearance action in three cases. There have been no prosecutions under the Act.
	The Ragwort Control Act 2003 amended the Weeds Act 1959 and provided for the preparation of a Code of Practice on how to prevent the spread of Ragwort. The Code was published in July 2004 and provides comprehensive advice on the control of Ragwort. It is available from Defra Publications (telephone: 0845955 6000) and is on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/horses/topics/ragwort.htm.
	The Code and revised enforcement procedures have increased public awareness of the dangers to horses and other livestock from Ragwort, and are proving effective in preventing the spread of Ragwort where there is a threat to animal welfare. This is illustrated by the fact that, in the vast majority of cases, where Defra has served an enforcement notice, land managers have acted promptly to take action to clear weeds.

Rainforests (Soya Production)

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much household waste was recycled in each of the last20 years.

Ben Bradshaw: The percentage of household waste that was recycled and composted by English local authorities for each year for which figures are available are listed as follows:
	
		
			   Household waste that was recycled and composted by English local authorities 
			   Percentage 
			 1996-97 7.5 
			 1997-98 8.2 
			 1998-99 9.0 
			 1999-90 10.0 
			 2000-01 11.2 
			 2001-02 12.5 
			 2002-03 14.5 
			 2003-04 17.8 
			 2004-05 22.5 
			  Source: DEFRA Municipal Waste Management Statistics 
		
	
	In addition, a provisional estimate has recently been made based on unaudited Best Value Performance Indicators, BV82a+b, that the recycling and composting rate for 2005-06 was around 27 per cent.

Single Farm Payments

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what percentage of claimants in  (a) England,  (b) the South West and  (c) Torridge and West Devon are waiting to receive their single farm payment in full; what the total value of payments which remain tobe paid is in (i) England, (ii) the South West and(iii) Torridge and West Devon; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: As of the 11 October 2006 of the 116,474 English SPS 2005 claimants 113,461 have received either a partial or full payment which leaves approximately 3,013 that are still to receive a payment. This is 2.6 per cent. of the total number of 2005 Single Farm Payment Scheme claimants and equates to£11 million yet to be paid.
	Analysis of the above by region is not available.

Waste Management/Recycling

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of  (a) household waste and  (b) all waste was recycled in each local authority area in South West England in each year between 1996-97 and 2006-07; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: Results for all local authorities in South West England, for years for which data are available, are listed in the following table.
	
		
			  Proportion of household waste recycled and composted per year 
			  Percentage 
			  Local authority in South West England  2004-05( 1)  2003-04  2002-03  2001-02  2000-01  1999-2000  1998-99 
			 Isles of Scilly n/a 19 20 21 17 8 10 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 32 29 26 25 24 21 17 
			 Bristol City 12 12 14 11 11 10 9 
			 Restormel 20 13 11 11 9 8 8 
			 Penwith 20 16 7 3 3 3 3 
			 North Cornwall 27 21 9 2 1 2 7 
			 Kerrier 23 20 16 13 7 7 6 
			 Carrick 30 n/a 13 12 11 7 7 
			 Caradon 23 21 15 11 4 2 2 
			 Cornwall County 26 21 16 11 9 7 6 
			 West Devon 29 22 21 20 15 16 15 
			 Torridge 24 22 17 13 12 10 11 
			 Torbay 22 21 20 18 17 17 10 
			 Teignbridge 27 15 12 11 10 12 12 
			 South Hams 26 17 22 16 18 17 14 
			 Plymouth City 16 16 15 16 14 10 8 
			 North Devon 22 18 15 12 9 10 10 
			 Mid Devon 18 16 15 14 11 6 11 
			 Exeter City 22 17 14 12 11 10 10 
			 East Devon 16 15 15 13 14 11 9 
			 Devon County 33 26 22 20 19 18 17 
			 Poole 23 19 18 15 17 20 22 
			 Bournemouth 22 25 23 24 20 19 24 
			 Weymouth and Portland 20 15 12 12 12 12 15 
			 West Dorset 21 14 13 12 10 9 9 
			 Purbeck 16 13 13 10 12 13 16 
			 North Dorset 20 18 16 16 16 15 18 
			 East Dorset 26 19 17 16 16 16 19 
			 Christchurch 21 19 13 12 12 11 11 
			 Dorset County 34 29 27 27 27 27 31 
			 Tewkesbury 15 14 8 8 7 7 7 
			 Stroud 21 22 20 16 17 15 13 
			 Gloucester City 11 12 12 7 7 6 6 
			 Forest of Dean 33 27 12 9 9 11 11 
			 Cotswold 19 18 16 17 17 19 19 
			 Cheltenham 18 n/a 12 9 n/a 7 8 
			 Gloucestershire County 24 21 17 14 13 11 12 
			 North Somerset 20 15 13 13 11 10 7 
			 West Somerset 16 15 12 10 10 9 8 
			 Taunton Deane 21 18 13 10 12 10 12 
			 South Somerset 17 15 11 10 10 10 11 
			 Sedgemoor 15 11 9 6 7 6 6 
			 Mendip 16 14 14 6 7 7 8 
			 Somerset County 32 27 21 15 15 13 14 
			 South Gloucestershire 32 16 13 9 8 7 7 
			 Swindon 19 16 14 10 13 15 15 
			 West Wiltshire 17 8 5 9 8 7 7 
			 Salisbury 19 15 15 14 16 17 16 
			 North Wiltshire 16 n/a 7 n/a n/a n/a 5 
			 Kennet 16 9 9 12 12 10 13 
			 Wiltshire County 27 19 17 18 10 11 10 
			 (1) Results for 2004-05 are the current best value performance indicator percentages, BV 82a+b recycling and composting rate. Notes:1. Fully audited data on local authority household recycling and composting performance for 2005-6 should be available later this year. Data for 1996-97 and 1997-8 is un/available.2. Household waste currently constitutes approximately 86 per cent of waste collected by local authorities. There are no comparable results available for all waste recycled at local authority level. Source:Defra Municipal Waste Management Statistics.

Bankruptcy Restrictions Orders

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many bankruptcy restrictions orders (BROs) have been made under the personal insolvency provisions introduced by the Enterprise Act in April 2004; and what proportion of total bankruptcy cases BROs represented in the same period.

Jim Fitzpatrick: From 1 April 2004 to 30 September 2006, a total of 1,609 bankruptcy restrictions orders (or undertakings) have been made. This represents1.3 per cent. of all bankruptcy orders made over the same period (the total number of bankruptcy orders made in this period is 121,648).

World Trade

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact of the latest round of Doha trade talks on (a) freeing up trade,  (b) improving market access for developing countries,  (c) sustainable development and  (d) poverty reduction.

Ian McCartney: A successful Doha round could deliver real benefits to developed and developing nations through increasing trade, stimulating economic growth and helping to alleviate poverty. The exact gains that developed and developing nations could derive from the Doha round are difficult to calculate, because they depend on a large number of variables. Although the UK has not conducted an independent assessment of the impact of the DDA, the European Commission has undertaken a full Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) of the possible economic, development, environmental and social impacts of a DDA agreement. This assessment is available onthe internet at http://www.sia-trade.org/FinalPhaseFinalReports.shtml.

Arms Export Controls

Susan Kramer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 13 September 2006,  Official Report, column 2332W, on arms export controls, what the numerical threshold is for widespread abuse used in HM Revenue and Custom's assessment of the level of abuse of export controls; how many staff are allocated to the conduct of risk-testing exercises of arms export control; how much was spent on such risk-testing exercises in each of the last five years; and how many such exercises have been carried out since 2000.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Custom's judgment that there is not widespread abuse of export controls is based on their assessment of the export control breaches either detected at the frontier or referred or disclosed to them and their evaluation of the intelligence and other information available to them. HMRC does not have a precisely defined numerical threshold for widespread abuse. They regard as abuse those cases where there is evidence of a deliberate breach involving destinations of concern or particularly sensitive goods.
	HMRC's centrally driven risk testing exercises involve HMRC staff as well as experts from other Government Departments and the intelligence agencies. There have been 11 such exercises since the first took place in July 2004 although customs managers in ports and airports also carry out their own local exercises that will include elements of risk testing.
	A typical exercise will comprise between six and 10 HMRC staff, who are deployed on a multi-functional and flexible basis. Accurate estimates of staff and other costs are not available.

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who the recipient is of the planned loans to Burma from the European Investment Bank; what the loans are for; and whether the UK Government is able to block such loans being made.

Edward Balls: No loans to Burma by the European Investment Bank (EIB) have been made.
	The ECOFIN Council is currently discussing the framework for lending by the EIB outside of the European Community (EC) guaranteed by the EC, covering the period 2007-13—the so-called "external lending mandate". No decision has yet been taken on the mandate, including on the procedures for agreeing eligibility of loan recipients in specific countries.

Childcare Vouchers

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax free childcare vouchers have been given in each year since introduction; and what their total value was.

Dawn Primarolo: Employers and employees are not required to report the value of tax-free employer supported childcare provided to employees since the tax and national insurance contributions exemptions were introduced in April 2005. HMRC have commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), an independent social research organisation, to conduct a survey of employers with a view to providing estimates of take-up among employers and their employees.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter to the Paymaster General of 18 August 2006 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. and Mrs. Reid.

Dawn Primarolo: I have replied to the right hon. Member.

Cultural Purposes Exemption (VAT)

Don Foster: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer how much cultural organisations have received from the cultural purposes exemption onVAT in each year since 1997, broken down by  (a) museums,  (b) galleries,  (c) art exhibitions,  (d) zoos,  (e) theatrical performances,  (f) musical performances,  (g) choreographic performances and  (h) other recipients; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: This information is not available. HM Revenue and Customs does not collect data on VAT relating to individual goods and services.

Departmental Meetings

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many meetings he has had with Sir Christopher Evans since 1 January 2005;
	(2)  what representations he has received fromSir Christopher Evans to increase public expenditure on stem cell research.

John Healey: holding answers 9 and 12 October 2006
	Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with and receive representations from a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practiceto provide details of all such meetings and representations.

Game Birds

Mike Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to value all land used for commercial game rearing where more than50 birds are kept; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Valuation officers (VOs) of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) are responsible for the valuation of non-domestic property for rating purposes.
	The VOA make assessments of game farms in all cases where it is appropriate to do so, in accordance with current rating legislation, responsibility for which rests with the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Inheritance Tax

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the population paid inheritance tax in each of the last 30 years.

Dawn Primarolo: The number of estates paying inheritance tax is published on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tax_receipts/1_4_apr06.xls
	UK population estimates are published on the ONS website as follows:
	Years 1976 to 2004: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/ssdataset.asp?vlnk=9468
	Year 2005: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Product.asp?vlnk=601
	The number of taxpaying estates has been less than 0.1 per cent. of the population in each year over the past 30 years.

Iraq

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of the debt owed by Iraq in March 2003 (a) overall and  (b) to the United Kingdom has been (i) repaid and (ii) cancelled.

Edward Balls: According to IMF estimates, the overall stock of external debt owed by Iraq at the time ofthe November 2004 Paris Club debt deal amounted to $119 billion. In November 2004, the Paris Club group of official creditors agreed with Iraq to cancel$31.1 billion (80 per cent.) of their total $38.9 billion claims on Iraq in three stages;
	An immediate cancellation of 30 per cent. of the debt stock as at 1 January 2005;
	A further 30 per cent. cancellation once a standard IMF programme for Iraq was approved; and
	An additional 20 per cent. cancellation upon a successful IMF Board review of Iraq's implementation of three-years of standard IMF programmes.
	The 2004 Paris Club Agreement also included a clause, which required Iraq to seek comparable debt relief from all its other non-Paris Club sovereign and commercial creditors. All Paris Club and some non Paris Club sovereign creditors have delivered the first two tranches of debt cancellation. Commercial creditors have also delivered comparable debt relief. We expect remaining non-Paris Club creditors to follow suit.
	The total amount of Iraqi debt cancelled to date (including by Paris Club, non-Paris Club sovereign and commercial creditors) is $42.3 billion. The UK has cancelled £672 million of Iraq's £1,122.8 million debt owed to the UK and will cancel a further £225 million (20 per cent. of UK's original debt stock) in accordance with the terms of the Paris Club agreement.

Market in Financial Instruments Directive

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he approved the Market in Financial Instruments Directive; and when the initial cost benefit analysis for the directive was completed.

Edward Balls: The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) was approved by member states, including the UK, through EcoFin in April 2004 using a written procedure. The directive's implementing measures were approved by member states, including the UK, at a meeting of the European Securities Committee in June of this year.
	The European Commission produced an impact assessment for MiFID in November 2002 when it published its proposal for the directive. The Treasury published an initial impact assessment with its Explanatory Memorandum on the Commission's proposal for a directive in December 2002. A partial impact assessment on the implementation of MiFIDin the UK was published with the Treasury's consultation document on MiFID implementation in December 2005.

Mortgages

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average mortgage rate was in each of the last 30 years.

Edward Balls: Average building society mortgage rates for the last 30 years are provided in the following table, sourced from the Compendium of Housing Finance Statistics produced by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
	
		
			   Average building society mortgage rate 
			 1975 11.08 
			 1976 11.06 
			 1977 11.05 
			 1978 9.55 
			 1979 11.94 
			 1980 14.92 
			 1981 14.01 
			 1982 13.30 
			 1983 11.03 
			 1984 12.19 
			 1985 13.01 
			 1986 12.32 
			 1987 10.34 
			 1988 12.75 
			 1989 14.44 
			 1990 14.34 
			 1991 11.39 
			 1992 8.98 
			 1993 7.94 
			 1994 7.84 
			 1995 7.48 
			 1996 6.51 
			 1997 7.58 
			 1998 7.29 
			 1999 6.49 
			 2000 6.65 
			 2001 5.17 
			 2002 4.96 
			 2003 4.64 
			 2004 5.21 
			 2005 5.15

Objective 1 Status

Martyn Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total level of  (a) local and  (b) central government funding received through Objective I status in Wales was in each of the last six years; and what estimate he has made of the level of private funding attracted to Wales in connection to Objective I seed money.

Stephen Timms: The management of the Objective 1 programme in Wales is a devolved matter for the Welsh Assembly Government.
	The UK Government have provided sufficient funding through spending review settlements for the Welsh Assembly Government in the 2000, 2002 and 2004 Spending Reviews to enable the Welsh Assembly Government to implement the Objective 1 programme in full.

Premier League

Ian Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many investigations have been made by HM Revenue and Customs into premier league football clubs in the last five years.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs has an on-going Employer Compliance and VAT Assurance programme whereby all businesses including football clubs are risked assessed annually. Regular visits are undertaken to businesses to exam their records. The Department is statutorily debarred from disclosing information relating to the tax affairs of those businesses.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations were made by Public and Commercial Services Union  (a) officials and  (b) members on the scope for fraud in the tax credits system in April 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: HMRC has regular meetings with the Public and Commercial Services Union to discuss a wide range of matters which affect their members, but are unaware of any specific queries relating to tax credit organised fraud raised by the PCS duringApril 2005.

Tax Credits

Don Touhig: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what systems are in place to ensure that records kept on the IT system used to process working family tax credits are not lost in the event of the system breaking down;
	(2)  how many recorded instances the IT system that deals with working family tax credits has overloaded and failed in the last 12 months;
	(3)  what capacity there is to store information on the IT system that processes working family tax credits; and what capacity there is to protect this information in the event of system breakdown;
	(4)  what contractual obligations the supplier of the IT system for the working family tax credit is under for  (a) remedial,  (b) compensatory and  (c) support services in circumstances where the system becomes inoperative.

Dawn Primarolo: The working families tax credit system was decommissioned in April 2005, following the introduction of the working tax credit (WTC) and child tax credit (CTC) in 2003. The following relates to WTC and CTC.
	In the event of a system failure the system and its data can be recovered to the point of failure as back up copies of data are kept as part of the design of the system. Data and information is fully backed up on a daily basis and securely stored off site.
	The system supporting these credits has not overloaded and there have been no system failures caused by an overload in the period referred to.
	The current tax credits system is designed to cater for all recipients of WTC and CTC and the system databases currently support up to six terabytes of data.
	These tax credits are provided for contractually under the provisions of the Aspire contract dated5 January 2004, as amended, and the specific IT Service Requirement (service level agreement) agreed for New Tax Credits (NTC).
	Capgemini are responsible for the availability of the online service during the contracted hours, for key transactions, problem and incident investigation and remediation, batch processing, training and security. In the event of failure against the agreed performance measures for availability and completeness of batch processing, Capgemini will be liable for service credits which provide the Department with a rebate of service charges for the service not received.

Tax Credits

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases involving overpayment of tax credits have arisen in each parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland; and how many have been resolved.

Dawn Primarolo: For estimates of the numbers of in-work families with tax credit awards, including information on overpayments, by constituency I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my righthon. Friend the Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field), on 16 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1421W. Information on recovery of overpayments is not available at constituency level.

VAT (Fruit Drinks)

Stephen Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration his Department has given to reducing VAT on pure fruit drinks.

Dawn Primarolo: Most foodstuffs are VAT zero-rated, saving consumers approximately £10.6 billion in the last financial year. This zero rate does not however extend to certain beverages, including fruit drinks. Under binding European VAT agreements, made at the time of the UK's accession to the EC and subsequently, the UK can maintain its existing zero rates but successive governments have agreed not to extend these, or to introduce new ones. It is therefore not possible under these agreements to remove VAT from fruit drinks and other beverages.
	These same agreements do allow the UK to introduce a reduced rate of VAT of not less than 5 per cent. for foodstuffs which are not zero-rated. While all taxes are kept under review, the use of VAT reduced rates have been used where the tax system offers the most effective and best-targeted support for our social objectives, when compared with other policy instruments.
	The 2004 Wanless report on public health highlighted difficulties of principle and practice with dietary based tax changes to support public health. To date, the Government have therefore focused resources to encourage healthy eating choices outside the tax system.

Gambling

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what consultations have been launched by  (a) her Department and  (b) the Gambling Commission since the passage of the Gambling Act 2005 on gambling, broken down by(i) estimated cost, (ii) length of consultation and(iii) number of responses; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: My Department and the Gambling Commission have launched the following consultation on the Gambling Act 2005.
	
		
			  Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) 
			  Completed consultation  Length (weeks)  Responses  Cost (£) 
			 Categories of gaming machines 12 0 — 
			  Final date for applications for new casinos
			 Under Gaming Act 1968 12 0 — 
			 Licensing authority policy statement 12 34 — 
			 Premises licence fees—costing exercise 6 42 — 
			 Premises permit fees—costing exercise 6 22 — 
			 Transitional arrangements 12 45 1,992 
			 
			  Open consultation
			 Categories of casinos regulations (2)12 6 — 
			 Personal licensing (3)8 0 — 
			 Premises licences (mandatory and default conditions) (4)12 (11)1 — 
			 Premises licence regulations (5)12 (11)1 — 
			 Premises licence hearings regulations (6)12 (11)1 — 
			 Premises licences inspection regulations (7)8 (11)0 — 
			 Premises licences responsible authority regulations (8)8 (11)0 — 
			 
			  Gambling Commission
			  Completed consultation
			 Guidance to licensing authorities Part 1: Main Guidance 12 72 15,430 
			 Guidance to licensing authorities Part 2: Small Society Lotteries 12 13 2,115 
			 Licence conditions and codes of practice (LCCP) 13 80 12,693 
			 Licensing, compliance and enforcement 12 44 10,386 
			 Statement of principles on licensing and regulation 13 80 6,625 
			  Supplementary to LCCP: Machine technical standards:
			 Part 1 7 28 — 
			 Part 2 7 Not yet known — 
			 
			  Open consultation
			 Supplementary to LCCP: Financial conditions on gambling operators and personal licence holders (9)6 0 — 
			 Supplementary to LLCP: Types of and rules for casino games (10)6 0 — 
			 
			  Joint DCMS and Gambling Commission
			  Open consultation
			 Gambling Commission fees 12 170 1,815 
			 (1 )Figures given relate to physical production costs of documents only (i.e. typesetting and printing) and do not include staff time costs. Where no figure is given costs are negligible because they have been disseminated through e-mail and the web.(2) Consultation period ends 27 October 2006(3) Consultation period ends 8 November 2006(4) Consultation period ends 17 November 2006(5 )Consultation period ends 15 December 2006(6) Consultation period ends 15 December 2006.(7 )Consultation period began on 13 October 2006.(8 )Consultation period began on 13 October 2006.(9) Consultation period began on 29 September 2006(10 )Consultation period began 22 September 2006.(11) To date.

Online Casinos

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her Department's most recent estimate is of the number of online casinos that will be based in the UK in each of the next 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: My Department has made no estimate.
	For the purposes of calculating draft fees for operating licences, the Gambling Commission assumed that seven remote casino operators would be based on-shore from September 2007.

Child Trust Funds

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost in each year for which such estimates are available of the proposals outlined by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on 27 September 2006  (a) to pay an extra £100 a year into Child Trust Fund accounts of those children in care and  (b) to create a £2,000 bursary to help children in care go to university.

Beverley Hughes: The estimated costs for the proposal to top up the Child Trust Fund for children in care in the UK are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2008-09 740,000 
			 2009-10 919,000 
			 2010-11 1,121,000 
			 2011-12 1,360,000 
			 2012-13 1,622,000 
			 2013-14 1,909,000 
			 2014-15 2,243,000 
			 2015-16 2,613,000 
			 2016-17 3,018,000 
			 2017-18 3,472,000 
			 2018-19 3,985,000 
			 2019-20 4,545,000 
			 2020-21 5,106,000 
			 2021-22 5,333,000 
		
	
	The estimated costs for the creation of a £2,000 bursary to help children in care in England go to university are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2008-09 900,000 
			 2009-10- 990,000 
			 2010-11- 1,089,000

Curriculum Online

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many hits Curriculum Online has received since its commencement; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: The Curriculum Online website site has attracted over 3 million visits since it was launched in 2003.
	The Curriculum Online website has been designed and updated in consultation with teachers. It has a powerful and innovative search engine that allows teachers to search by subject, title, size of resource (e.g. from a single lesson to whole school) or supplier. Teachers can even search for Foundation resources only, SEN resources only, free/priced resources, or resources for use with an interactive whiteboard. Many products carry independent evaluations and/or teacher reviews, to further help teachers in their decision making. The ability to view quotes from several suppliers for the same product can also help teachers to make purchases which offer better value for their money.

Higher Education Maintenance Grant

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students claimed the higher education maintenance grant in each of the last 10 years, broken down by region.

Bill Rammell: It is assumed that the question refers to the higher education grant (HEG) introduced for new students in academic year 2004/05, rather than the new HE maintenance grant which will be introduced in 2006/07, and the question has been answered on this basis. The HEG did not exist before 2004/2005.
	The number(1) of English domiciled students in each Government Office Region in receipt of a Higher Education Grant in 2004/05 and 2005/06 (provisional) is given in the table.
	
		
			   Academic year 
			  Government Office region  2004/05  2005/06( 2) 
			 East Midlands 7,500 13,900 
			 East of England 7,700 14,100 
			 London 22,200 40,600 
			 North East 4,800 8,600 
			 North West 15,600 27,900 
			 South East 11,800 21,700 
			 South West 9,300 16,900 
			 West Midlands 10,900 19,700 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 9,700 17,400 
			 Total(3) 99,400 180,800 
			 (1) Numbers rounded to the nearest hundred. (2) Provisional as at 10 October 2006. (3) The total may not be equal to the sum of the constituent parts due to rounding.  Source: Student Loans Company (SLC).

Student Loans

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the pilot scheme to administer student loans run by Student Finance Direct.

Bill Rammell: We will be evaluating the performance of the pilot in order to learn lessons for the development of the new service which will be rolled out nationally from September 2008 for students starting higher education in the 2009-10 academic year. The Student Loans Company have reported that the pilot unit is currently processing applications within the laid down national performance standards.

Teenage Pregnancy

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what discussions  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials from his Department have had with the Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy about its recommendation to require compulsory lessons in schools on abortion; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what representations  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials from his Department have received from(i) individuals and (ii) organisations about the recommendations made by the Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy to require compulsory lessons in schools on abortion; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how much funding his Department has provided to the Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy since July.

Beverley Hughes: The Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group's (TPIAG) fourth annual report—published in September 2006—included six recommendations, none of which called on Government to introduce compulsory lessons in schools on abortion.
	In her foreword, however, the TPIAG Chair—Gill Frances—did argue that pregnant young women and their partners should have access to impartial, evidence-based information on the options open to them, including abortion, to help inform the decision about whether or not to continue with the pregnancy. This is a view with which the Government concurs. TPIAG report that many myths prevail, including the fact that abortion may lead to infertility, which they are concerned may be a contributory factor to repeat abortions.
	The TPIAG Chair also argues that school-based Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) programmes should provide opportunities to convey factual information about abortion. The Government expect all schools to offer comprehensive SRE programmes, in line with its SRE guidance to schools, issued in 2000. Schools are also encouraged to evaluate their SRE programmes against the QCA's end of key stage statements, issued in November 2005.
	Ministers in the Department for Education and Skills have received a small amount of correspondence from members of the public concerned about press reports, which wrongly said that TPIAG had called for schools to 'promote the benefits' of abortion. This was not the case.
	The TPIAG monitors implementation and makes independent recommendations on the future development of the teenage pregnancy strategy. Government will publish its formal response to TPIAG's report early next year.
	Members of TPIAG are not paid a salary. All members receive a daily rate for attending meetings (110). The Chair receives an annuity of £15,000 a year, including expenses, reflecting the time and commitment put into tackling this important Government priority.

Teenage Pregnancy

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the impact of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit on reducing teenage pregnancies; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the future of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit.

Beverley Hughes: There has been steady progress on reducing under-18 conception rates since the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy was launched in 1999. Between 1998 (the baseline year for the strategy) and 2004 (the latest year for which data are available), the under-18 rate has fallen by 11.1 per cent. and the under-16 rate has fallen by 15.2 per cent. Both rates are now at their lowest levels for 20 years.
	Delivery guidance issued to local authorities and primary care trusts in July 2006 set out what was working in areas with sharply declining rates and requires all areas to reflect these findings in their future plans. A broader strategy document published in September 2006 provided analysis on the underlying causes of teenage pregnancy, to help local areas to target their strategies on young people at greatest risk.
	The strategy includes a challenging PSA target to halve the under-18 conception rate by 2010 (compared to the 1998 baseline rate). We envisage that we will continue to need a small team of policy officials within DfES (the Teenage Pregnancy Unit currently has seven members of staff) to drive forward the Strategy. Broad estimates calculate that every pound spent on the Strategy, results in savings of four pounds to the public purse, when assessed over a period of five years.

Youth Centres

James McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the impact on  (a) crime,  (b) educational achievement and  (c) antisocial behaviour of the provision of youth centres.

Parmjit Dhanda: holding answer 16 October
	I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of Secretary of State as this question falls within my ministerial responsibilities.
	The Government do not collect specific information on the impact of youth centres or youth clubs.
	We expect high quality youth work and the provision of positive activities to support young people to achieve their full potential and to help reduce young people's engagement in crime and antisocial behaviour. These activities will often be delivered through youth centres, but it is up to local authorities to decide how best to meet their duties and to respond to local needs in doing so.
	Findings from the evaluation of the Positive Activities for Young People, a programme targeted at a hard to engage client group, show a range of positive outcomes for participating young people including contributing to reductions in criminal and antisocial behaviour and supporting young people back into education.

Engagements

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on how many occasions he has visited each region of the UK in an official capacity in the last12 months.

Peter Hain: As Secretary of State for Wales I have offices in Cardiff and London.
	In my capacity as Secretary of State for Wales, I have carried out ministerial duties outside the office on 46 occasions in Wales, on two occasions in Northern Ireland and on two occasions in the West Midlands.

Tidal Power

Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions  (a) he and  (b) his Department has had with the Welsh Assembly Government regarding the generation of tidal power from the Severn estuary.

Peter Hain: In its submission to the Energy Review, the Welsh Assembly Government called for the Government to commission a new feasibility study on Severn tidal power and the contribution it could make towards reducing our carbon emissions. As Secretary of State, I supported this proposal.
	In the Energy Review, the Government committed, together with the Welsh Assembly Government, to working with the Sustainable Development Commission, the South West Regional Development Agency and other key interested parties to explore the issues arising on the tidal resource in the UK. The study is expected to report in early 2007.
	I and my Department will continue to maintain close discussions with the First Minister and his officials on this and other aspects of energy policy as this work is taken forward.

Child Support Agency

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many working days were lost during the process of moving the Child Support Agency to new premises; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many working days were lost during the process of moving the Child Support Agency to new premises; and if he will make a statement.
	The Agency has acquired three new sites over the last12 months to support the requirements of the Operational Improvement Plan and as part of these acquisitions we have transferred a number of people into the Agency from The Pension Service, Jobcentre Plus and the Disability and Carers Service.
	These acquisitions were carefully planned to ensure no working days were lost to the main business. Training was planned in stages and new people were integrated into the main business on completion of training.

Child Support Agency

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what systems his Department has in place to measure the performance of Vertex in dealing with manual cases at the Child Support Agency; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the length of the term is of the Child Support Agency contract awarded to Vertex; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many cases Vertex has taken over from the Child Support Agency; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  which Minister made the decision to award the Child Support Agency contract to Vertex; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  what criteria were used for the tendering process for the contract for the management of the manual cases of the Child Support Agency; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  how many companies participated in the tender process for the management of manual cases of the Child Support Agency; and if he will make a statement;
	(7)  on what basis the decision was made to award the contract for the management of the manual cases of the Child Support Agency to Vertex; and if he will make a statement;
	(8)  what the commercial value to Vertex is of the contract for the management of manual Child Support Agency cases; and if he will make a statement;
	(9)  what training the staff of Vertex have received in handling clerical Child Support Agency cases; and if he will make a statement;
	(10)  what mechanisms have been put in place to safeguard data protection by Vertex in their handling of Child Support Agency cases; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: holding answers 16 October 2006
	The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. I am responding, with his authority, on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions:
	What systems his Department has in place to measure the performance of Vertex in dealing with manual cases at the Child Support Agency;
	What the term is of the Child Support Agency contract awarded to Vertex;
	How many cases Vertex has taken over from the Child Support Agency;
	Which Minister made the decision to award the Child Support Agency contract to Vertex;
	What criteria were used for the tendering process for the contract for the management of the manual cases of the Child Support Agency;
	How many companies participated in the tender process for the management of manual cases of the Child Support Agency;
	On what basis the decision was made to award the contract for the management of the manual cases of the Child Support Agency to Vertex;
	What the commercial value to Vertex is of the contract for the management of manual cases of the Child Support Agency;
	What training staff of Vertex have received in handling clerical Child Support Agency cases;
	What mechanisms have been put in place to safeguard data protection by Vertex when handling Child Support Agency cases; and if he will make a statement.
	The Agency has put in place a robust contract management process to measure the Vertex's performance in managing its clerical cases. This will be achieved through monthly performance and quarterly meetings, where performance will be reviewed and discussed.
	The term of the contract awarded to Vertex was 19 months; this ends in March 2008. Work to the computer system is continuing over 2006/2007 to rectify existing defects. The IT system will be working effectively before the end of the contract with Vertex to enable these cases to be put back onto the system.
	It is planned that Vertex will initially manage 22,500 cases on behalf of the Child Support Agency increasing to 34,000 cases over the life of the contract. To date around 13,500 cases from four of the Agency's six business areas have already transferred to Vertex. The remaining cases are due to transfer later this month.
	The award of the contract for the management of the Child Support Agency's clerical cases was not a Ministerial decision; it was a decision of the Agency. However, Ministers were made aware as soon as the decision had been made.
	The Criteria used for the tendering process (which was conducted in line with European and Government Procurement Rules) for the contract for the management of clerical cases, and the basis for the decision to award the contract to Vertex was:
	The ability to deliver the overall solution
	Bulk case processing experience
	Operational flexibility/contingencies
	Supplier understanding of Clerical Cases Management Service
	Management Controls
	There were initially seven companies involved in the tender process for the management of clerical cases. By the final stage of the process the number of companies had been short-listed to three.
	The decision to award the contract to Vertex was based on pre-determined and agreed criteria that reflected the quality of scheme required against best value for money.
	It is not possible for me to quantify the commercial value of the contract to Vertex. The generic contract cost to the Department for Work and Pensions is in the region of£23 million for the life of the contract.
	The Agency delivered comprehensive training to Vertex trainers over a 3-week period. The Vertex trainers then took this training to their own people who would be managing the clerical cases. Since then the Agency has provided approximately 100 people to Vertex to help consolidate this training and to assist in the early weeks of transition.
	The Agency has rigorous procedures in place to prevent the mis-use of data in its possession, including the requirement for all employees to sign confidentiality agreements, and the random checking of system access by designated managers. The Department for Work and Pensions has over 20 detailed Information Technology (IT) Security and Data Protection policy documents which the Agency must comply with. These cover a diverse range of security matters, from Anti Virus Policy, Monitoring Official Systems Policy, the Social Security Administration Act 1992 and the Freedom of Information Act. Vertex staff are bound by the same rules and policies as the Agency's employees.
	I hope this is helpful.

Pension Protection Fund

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the implementation of the Compulsory Pension Protection Fund.

James Purnell: The Pension Protection Fund was established to protect members of defined benefit schemes and the defined benefit element of hybrid schemes by paying compensation if their employer becomes insolvent and the pension scheme is under funded to a certain level. In order to have sufficient funds to pay compensation, the PPF charge a compulsory annual levy on all eligible schemes and take in the remaining assets of schemes that enter the PPF. The PPF consulted on their proposals for levy calculation in 2005 and they were well received by industry.
	The second annual report of the PPF will be laid in November outlining in detail the progress made towards the organisation's goals. The PPF is currently issuing invoices for the first risk based levy of UK pension schemes. There are 150 schemes in the PPF Assessment period and in the region of 86,000 members.

Correspondence

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Transport when he will reply to the letter of1 September from Sir Robert Atkins MEP.

Gillian Merron: A response was sent to Sir Robert Atkins MEP on 17 October 2006.

Foreign Registered Vehicles

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many foreign-registered vehicles have been inspected in the South East International Transport Project during the 2006-07 financial year; how many prohibitions were issued as a result, broken down by type of offence; and how many prosecutions have resulted from those inspections during the current financial year.

Stephen Ladyman: The following tables shows the number of foreign-registered vehicles inspected and prohibitions issued during the South East pilot in the current financial year:
	
		
			  Roadworthiness offences 
			   Number 
			  Heavy Goods Vehicles  
			 Inspected 4,342 
			 Prohibitions 2,073 
			   
			  Trailers  
			 Inspected 4,200 
			 Prohibitions 2,040 
		
	
	
		
			  Traffic enforcement offences 
			   Number 
			  Drivers' hours  
			 Inspected 6,513 
			 Prohibitions 1,418 
			   
			  Overloading  
			 Inspected 1,921 
			 Prohibitions 424 
		
	
	It is possible for one vehicle to have been inspected for a combination roadworthiness, drivers hours and/or weight checks.
	Prosecutions have not resulted from these activities because Vehicle and Operator Services Agency are unable to secure attendance of non-UK resident offenders in court, nor can any penalty given in their absence be enforced.
	Currently, action VOSA can take against foreign haulers includes direction out of the country, notification of the offence to the appropriate authority within their member state for local redress or, in certain circumstances, vehicle impounding.
	The Road Safety Bill, which is currently before Parliament, includes proposals for the introduction of deposits against penalties in relation to offences detected at the roadside.

Fuel Efficiency

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department investigates the claims made by the promoters of fuel improvement products in relation to reductions in  (a) fuel use and  (b) emissions.

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport published a "Good Practice Guide" on Fuel Saving Devices (Good Practice Guide 313) in February 2003. This guide, which is aimed primarily at fleet operators, gives general advice to potential purchasers on the testing of fuel saving devices and after-market fuel additives. The guide is available on the Freight Best Practice website (http://www.freightbestpractice.org.uk/pubsub.aspx?SectionID=1).
	The Department encourages inventors and those marketing products claimed to deliver fuel or emissions savings to obtain test data from independent experts to support their claims. A fact sheet is available from the Department which advises inventors, or other interested parties, of reputable test laboratories that might be approached for assistance in verifying claims, of Trade Associations, and of possible sources of funding for innovative technologies.
	Where false or unsustainable claims are made for a fuel treatment that is offered for sale, action against the advertiser would be a matter for the Advertising Standards Authority or Trading Standards.

Motorways

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the location is of each stretch of motorway which has speed restrictions in force on a 24-hour basis to protect the work force where the roadworks are not being carried out on a 24-hour basis.

Stephen Ladyman: There are no speed restrictions in place purely to protect the work force. The following table gives the location of speed restrictions which are currently in force, on motorways, on a 24-hour basis where works are not being carried out on a 24 hour basis.
	
		
			  24/7 speed restrictions where works are not 24/7 
			  Motorway  Junction(s)  Location  Reason 
			 M56 Weaver Viaduct 12 E and W/bound Nr Frodsham, Cheshire Speed restriction—40mph; all cameras 'live'; operatives working dayshift only. The predominant reason for the speed limit at Weaver is that parapets are being removed/replaced in sections—there is Variogard (barriers) up resulting in narrow lanes, hence the speed limit restriction for safety. The workforce issue is therefore a secondary reason 
			 A1(M) 8-7 N and S/bound Stevenage Speed restriction due to an incomplete safety barrier and opened excavations behind the barrier 
			 M11 8 S/bound exit slip Stanstead Airport Speed restriction imposed due to the presence of narrow lanes through the works 
			 M40 4 E and W/bound Beaconsfield Speed restriction imposed due to the presence of Variogard/cones and narrow lanes 
			 M2 Junction 6-7 Salters Lane, Brockdale and Ashford Road, Faversham Work involves bridge column strengthening. Open excavations and unprotected columns in place-traffic management needed at all times to protect the motorist 
			 M4 18-19 E and W/bound Bath—Bristol Narrow lanes in place 24 hours. Open excavations with a temporary Varioguard barrier in place. Reduction of speed limit is needed where temporary barriers and narrow lanes are in place to protect the safety of the travelling public 
			 M4 16-17 E and W/bound Wootten Bassett—Chippenham Narrow lanes (24 hours) and temporary Variogard barrier in place 
			 M1 (Jct with M69) 21 (with M69 Junction) Leicester Work is taking place on the roundabout underneath the motorway junction-speed restriction of 50 mph is on M1 above to reduce speed of traffic entering slip road where speed is reduced to 30 mph for safety of travelling public and workforce 
			 M6 12-13 N and S/bound Staffordshire Safety through contraflow 
			 M1 widening junctions 6a to 10 8 to 10 northbound Hemel to Luton Narrow lanes, large number of HGVs, close proximity of junctions hence merge and diverge movements, exposed excavations, uneven surfaces, contraflow lane 
			  10 to 8 southbound Luton to Hemel As above 
			 A1(M) A1M/A1/A614 East of J32 of the M1 Blyth, Notts Speed restriction due to build a new grade separated junction at Blyth.50 mph restriction for safety of road user and workforce-who will often be working at night

Motorways

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason the M1 motorway was closed on 11 September near to junction 21; why a complete closure was deemed necessary in both directions; and by whom that decision was made.

Stephen Ladyman: The southbound carriageway of the M1 motorway was closed between Junctions 21 and 20 shortly after 07.35 hours on 11 September, as a result of a traffic accident between a heavy goods vehicle and a car. Both vehicles overturned, damaging the verge safety barriers and causing severe damage to the carriageway surface. In addition there was substantial oil spillage.
	The southbound carriageway remained closed to allow for the removal of the vehicles and repair work to be carried out. The northbound carriageway was not closed at any stage.
	The original estimated time for reopening was18.00 hours but recovery and repair work progressed well and the closure was lifted at 16.43 hours.
	The closure was instigated and subsequently lifted by the Highways Agency's East Midlands Regional Control Centre following discussions with Highways Agency Traffic Officers on site.

Night Flights

Kenneth Clarke: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Transport how many night flights there were from  (a) Heathrow,  (b) Gatwick,  (c) Stansted and  (d) Nottingham East Midlands airports in each of the last five years; and if he will designate Nottingham East Midlands Airport under section 78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 and put a night movements limit on that airport.

Gillian Merron: Night movements between 2330 and 0600 at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted are controlled by a movements limit and a supplementary noise quota to encourage the use of quieter aircraft. The movements limits and noise quotas are set for a season, the seasons change with the clocks. There are also controls between 2300-2330 and 0600-0700 to prevent the noisiest aircraft from operating.
	The number of movements against the limits at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports from winter 2000-01 to winter 2005-06 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Movements against limit 2330-0600 (movement limits in brackets( 1) ) 
			   Gatwick  Heathrow  Stansted 
			 Winter 2000-01 3,431 (5,250) 2,615 (2,550) 2,190 (5,000) 
			 Summer 2001 10,890 (77,200) 2,939 (3,250) 5,035 (7,000) 
			 Winter 2001-02 2,864 (5,250) 2,684 (2,550) 2,445 (5,000) 
			 Summer 2002 9,358 (77,200) 2,937 (3,250) 5,297 (7,000) 
			 Winter 2002-03 2,976 (5,250) 2,620 (2,550) 2,862 (5,000) 
			 Summer 2003 8,978 (77,200) 2,899 (3,250) 4,832 (7,000) 
			 Winter 2003-04 2,604 (5,250) 2,683 (2,550) 2,436 (5,000) 
			 Summer 2004 7,370 (77,200) 2,993 (3,250) 5,390 (7,000) 
			 Winter 2004-05 3,000 (5,250) 2,591 (2,550) 3,112(5,000) 
			 Summer 2005 10,591 (77,200) 2,956 (3,250) 5,846 (7,000) 
			 Winter 2005-06 3,257 (5,250) 2,669 (2,550) — 
			 (1) The movements limit in some seasons has been enhanced under the end of season flexibility rules whereby 5 per cent. or 10 per cent. of the previous season's movements limit can be carried forward if it has not been used. 
		
	
	Similar information was not available from Nottingham East Midlands Airport. However, the number of movements between the hours of 2300 and 0700 for each calendar year from 2001 to 2005 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Total number of movements 2300-0700 
			   Gatwick  Heathrow  Stansted  NEMA 
			 2001 25,912 20,790 15,887 15,554 
			 2002 24,506 26,465 17,253 17,165 
			 2003 24,208 25,558 21,332 17,475 
			 2004 25,950 26,516 21,489 17,082 
			 2005 27,419 27,226 23,764 16,543 
		
	
	The Government's policy remains as set out in the White Paper, namely that control of nuisance due to operational noise from aircraft should, so far as practical, be determined locally. It is not guaranteed that s.78 regulation would lead to tougher controls or movements limits.

Transport Infrastructure

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what total  (a) Government and  (b) private funding for transport infrastructure was in each of the last 30 years at today's prices; and what projected spending is for the next three years.

Gillian Merron: Data on government and private funding for transport infrastructure in Great Britain is shown in the following table; it is available from 1985-86 only. There is no data available for projected spending on transport infrastructure.
	A split by public and private funding is not available for rail and ports infrastructure.
	Further information on transport funding can be found in Tables 1.14 and 1.15 in "Transport Statistics Great Britain" on the DfT website at www.dft.gov.uk.
	
		
			  Public and private funding for transport infrastructure, 1985-86 to 2004-05 
			  £ million 
			   1985-86  1986-87  1987-88  1988-89  1989-90  1990-91  1991-92  1992-93  1993-94 
			 Road Infrastructure  
			 Public 4,877 4,912 5,110 5,267 6,025 6,354 6,154 6,256 6,237 
			 Private 0 0 16 108 89 74 40 175 107 
			 Total 4,877 4,912 5,127 5,375 6,115 6,428 6,195 6,431 6,343 
			 Rail infrastructure 1,240 1,225 1,628 1,873 2,367 2,778 3,085 3,167 2,412 
			 Ports infrastructure 224 135 119 144 182 192 161 145 162 
			   
			 Airports and air traffic control  
			 Public(1) 126 128 137 195 227 286 323 338 297 
			 Private(1) 306 296 321 303 379 570 321 246 368 
			 Total 431 424 458 498 605 856 644 584 664 
		
	
	
		
			  Public and private funding for transport infrastructure, 1985-86 to 2004-05 
			  £ million 
			   1994-95  1995-96  1996-97  1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03 
			 Road infrastructure  
			 Public 6,072 5,330 4,367 3,871 3,417 3,477 3,735 3,973 4,348 
			 Private 112 129 457 297 321 72 52 49 41 
			 Total 6,183 5,459 4,824 4,168 3,737 3,549 3,787 4,023 4,389 
			 Rail infrastructure 2,595 2,523 2,712 2,759 3,055 3,595 3,116 3,983 4,489 
			 Ports infrastructure 156 208 183 237 277 283 229 254 250 
			   
			 Airports and air traffic control  
			 Public(1) 266 177 208 256 162 183 182 63 75 
			 Private(1) 564 559 564 669 626 579 632 687 829 
			 Total 830 735 773 925 788 762 814 750 904 
			 (1) Investment in NATS switched from public to private funding between 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Trunk Roads (Northamptonshire)

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans the Government have to build new trunk roads in Northamptonshire in the next10 years.

Stephen Ladyman: As you are aware, the Regional Spatial Strategy for the East Midlands (RSS 8), published in 2005, provides a broad development strategy for the region up to 2021.
	The Regional Transport Strategy included within RSS 8 does not contain any proposals for building new trunk roads in Northamptonshire in the next 10 years.
	However, RSS 8 does include improvements to existing trunk roads scheduled for the next 10 years, namely the A14 Kettering Bypass and the A45 Stanwick to Thrapston Improvement.

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) senior civil service and (b) pay level 10 posts there were within the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency on 1 January 2005; how many in each category there were on 31 August 2006; and what the total pay bill including bonuses was for each group of staff in 2005-06.

Stephen Ladyman: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency had four senior civil services posts on 1 January 2005 and four on 31 August 2006. It hadfour Level 10 posts on 1 January 2005 and six on31 August 2006.
	The pay bill, including bonuses, in 2005-06 was:
	Senior civil service—£434,394
	Level 10—£356,012

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the terms of reference are of the Deloittes study into the possible outsourcing of work being carried out by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency; what the initial conclusions of the study are; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The terms of reference for the Deloittes study are commercial in confidence. It is too early to say what the initial conclusions of the study are.

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) senior civil servants and  (b) other staff from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency attended the launch celebrations of the MOT Computerisation project held on the SS Great Britain in Bristol.

Stephen Ladyman: The MOT Computerisation launch celebrations held on the SS Great Britain were hosted by Siemens Business Services. 42 VOSA staff were able to accept the invitation to attend. three attendees were senior civil servants.

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many roadside checks the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency conducted  (a) with and(b) without support from local police forces in each of the last six years.

Stephen Ladyman: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) publishes the number of roadside checks carried out annually in its Effectiveness Report. This is available on-line at www.vosa.gov.uk and in the House of Commons Library, Business and Transport Section. VOSA's records do not separate which checks are conducted with or without police support.

Electoral Arrangements

Gordon Banks: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of eligible voters missing from the Electoral Register in Ochil and South Perthshire.

Bridget Prentice: These statistics are not collectedby this Department. A comparison between those included in the current register for Ochil and South Perthshire and the census figures for the same area compiled in 2001 suggests a possible under-registration of about 1.1 per cent. In your constituency the number of people registered to vote in the past year has increased from 71,036 to 71,879.

Care Orders

Annette Brooke: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the average time was between a care order being madeand the final placement hearing in  (a) London and (b) England in the last period for which figures are available.

Harriet Harman: This information requested is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Agency Staff

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what proportion of  (a) staff and  (b) new staff employed since April 2005 in (i) her Department and (ii) each of the agencies for which she has responsibility is recorded as disabled.

Bridget Prentice: Data on the disability status of (a) staff as at 30 September 2006 and  (b) new entrants in the Department for Constitutional Affairs since 1 April 2005 is in the following table. Central data on disability statistics is collected via a voluntary confidential questionnaire, which is sent to all staff.
	
		
			  Table A: Proportion of staff recorded as disabled of DCA agencies as at 30 September 2006—non-industrial and industrial staff/headcount 
			  Department for Constitutional Affairs agencies  Staff in post  Proportion of staff in post recorded as disabled  Percentage of employees declared as disabled 
			 Department for Constitutional Affairs 2,082 97 4.6 
			 Her Majesty's Court Service 22,748 632 2.7 
			 Public Guardianship Office 342 13 3.8 
			 Tribunals 3,094 93 3.0 
			 Wales Office 56 (1)— 1.7 
			 (Scotland Office only) and Office of Advocate General (22) (1)— 0 
			 National Archives 640 29 4.5 
			 Land Registry 8,527 552 6.5 
			 Grand total all DCA agencies 37,511 1,417 3.7 
			 (1) Number below 5 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B: New entrants since 1 April 2005 recorded as disabled for DCA agencies—non industrial and industrial staff / headcount 
			  Department for Constitutional Affairs agencies  Entrants  Proportion of entrants recorded as disabled  Percentage of entrants declared as disabled 
			 Department for Constitutional Affairs 672 12 1.7 
			 Her Majesty's Court Service 14,318 252 1.7 
			 Public Guardianship Office 71 (1)— 1.4 
			 Tribunals 2,308 49 2.1 
			 Wales Office 11 (1)— 0 
			 (Scotland Office only) and Office of Advocate General (10) (1)— 0 
			 National Archives 121 (1)— 3.3 
			 Land Registry 131 10 6.1 
			 Grand total all DCA agencies 17,639 324 1.8 
			 (1 )Number below 5

Electoral Administration Act 2006

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs which of the provisions introduced in the Electoral Administration Act 2006 will not be implemented before May 2007.

Bridget Prentice: The Government intend all provisions introduced in the Electoral Administration Act 2006 will be implemented before May 2007, with the exception of section 10, concerning anonymous registration, which we intend to commence inJune 2007.

Freedom of Information

Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many freedom of information (FOI) requests were under consideration at the FOI clearing house as of9 October 2006, broken down by Government department.

Vera Baird: As of the 9 October 2006, the Clearing House had under consideration 338 FOI requests referred to it by central Government departments. The breakdown by government department is detailed as follows:
	Cabinet Office—60
	Department for Constitutional Affairs—21
	Department for Culture, Media and Sport—20
	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs—10
	Department for Education and Skills—2
	Department for International Development—1
	Department for Transport—3
	Department of Health—20
	Department for Trade and Industry—15
	Department for Work and Pensions—4
	Foreign and Commonwealth Office—38
	Her Majesty's Treasury—33
	Home Office—30
	Ministry of Defence—29
	Northern Ireland Office—6
	Department for Communities and Local Government—19
	Office of National Statistics—1
	Charity Commission—1
	Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs—5
	Export Credits Guarantee Department—1
	Crown Prosecution Service—1
	The National Archives—11
	Other—7
	Total—339

Freedom of Information

Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether her Department has collected statistics on the numberof freedom of information requests turned down by  (a) Departments and  (b) non-departmental public bodies on the grounds that the request was considered to be vexatious.

Vera Baird: On 22 May 2006, the DCA published the First Annual Report on the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The report includes detailed statistics on the number of freedom of information requests refused on the grounds that the request was vexatious by Departments of state and by other central Government bodies monitored by DCA.
	The Freedom of Information Annual Report 2005 can be found online at:
	http://www.dca.gov.uk/foi/imprep/annrep05.pdf

Legal Aid

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many firms of solicitors in England and Wales undertake Legal Services Commission funded work in family law; and how many undertook such work in 1997.

Vera Baird: The Legal Services Commission holds data on the number of solicitors' offices with legal help contracts, as each office requires a separate contract. For example a single firm might have five offices and that would be recorded as five contracts.
	The number of offices with active legal help contracts in family as at 31 March 2006 (which is the latest data available) was 2,881, with a further 227 classified as "Licence Only". Some of this latter group will be paid for certificated family work. This gives a total of 3,108.
	During the financial year 1997/98 there were a total of 10,601 active legal aid offices funded by the Legal Aid Board, with 86 per cent. doing "matrimonial work" giving a figure of 9,117 offices.
	The figures show a drop in the number of such offices of some two-thirds since 1997-98. The majority of those that stopped undertaking family work were not full-time specialists. In particular, the introduction of civil contracting in 2000 was intended to ensure that only the best quality specialists did the work.
	The continuing decline in numbers since then has been caused by the introduction of more rigorous quality assurance procedures, which have removed those service providers who are failing to deliver quality legal services.

Mental Capacity Act

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when she expects the Mental Capacity Act 2005 code of practice to be laid before Parliament for approval; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: A public consultation on the draft code of practice ran from 9 March 2006 to 2 June 2006and the response to consultation was published on29 September 2006. The draft code is currently being revised to take into account the comments received during the consultation process. The revised code is expected to be laid before Parliament by the end ofthe year.

Afghanistan

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the budget is for Urgent Operational Requirements for operations in Afghanistan for  (a) 2005-06,  (b) 2006-07 and  (c) 2007-08.

Adam Ingram: There is no annual budget setfor Urgent Operational Requirements (UORs). Expenditure is based on the urgent, operational need to address capability requirements that arise in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Efficiency Savings

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what efficiency savings his Departmentmade in 2005-06; what savings are anticipated for (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08; what the targets were for each of these years; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence has a target of £2.8 billion of annual efficiency gains by the end of the three-year Spending Review 2004 period. Details of progress towards this target are published in the MOD annual report and accounts 2005-06.

Outstanding Pay/Benefits

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many individuals serving in  (a) the regular forces and  (b) the reserve forces including volunteer reservists had pay or benefits outstanding(i) for more than three months and (ii) totalling more than £500 in each of the last 10 years.

Derek Twigg: The information requested is notheld centrally and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

QinetiQ

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what financial guarantees the Government has given to QinetiQ; and whether the Government has further liabilities  (a) directly and  (b) as a result of shareholder agreements.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence has given no specific financial guarantees to QinetiQ. QinetiQ does, however, receive a declining percentage of the relevant portion of the MOD's research budget as singletender work. With the progressive introduction of competition into the science and technology research programme, this percentage is expected to reduce to zero by April 2008. QinetiQ also has a 25-year Long Term Partnering Agreement with MOD valued in total at some £5.6 billion, with review points every five years.
	MOD has no further liabilities beyond those agreed under the Liabilities Agreement at the initial stage of the PPP sale process in 2002. A summary of the Liabilities Agreement appear on pages 280-281 in the QinetiQ prospectus, a copy of which was placed in the Library of the House on 26 January 2006.

Afghanistan

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make available the mid-term review undertaken by his Department in March 2006 of the Research in Alternative Livelihoods Fund (RALF) in Afghanistan; if he will ensure that all such work is readily available on the RALF website; and what assessment he has made of the progress of those Alternative Livelihood projects which have been successfully implemented by his Department in Afghanistan, broken down by province.

Hilary Benn: We are working with RALF to improve their dissemination strategy—in particular through their website. Work on this is under way. In the meantime we are able to share an internal mid-year review undertaken by DFID in August and RALF's most recent six monthly report. These have both been placed in the House of Commons Library, and we are following up with RALF to ensure that they are placed on their website.
	DFID is contributing, with other donors, to the Government of Afghanistan National Solidarity Programme (NSP) and the National Rural Access Programme (NR AP) both of which are covering all provinces of Afghanistan. NSP has created 17,033 community development councils and financed 17,109 community led projects. NRAP is constructing 855km of rural roads. The multi-donor Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan(MISFA), to which the UK contributes, is working in 20 provinces (Kabul, Baghlan, Kunduz, Samangan, Takhar, Bamayan, Parwan, Herat, Badakhshan, Balkh, Jozjan, Wardak, Nangahar, Laghman, Ghazni, Kapisa, Faryab, Sar-l-Pul, Logar, Kunar). It has disbursed US$81,264,560 in loans to 197,278 clients.
	DFID's bilateral programmes, are active in Badakshan and Bamyan. In the former 26,500 farmers have received agricultural inputs, 155 villages have received veterinary services including the vaccination of 61,520 animals through a DFID funded programme. In Bamyan new and innovative ways for farmers to make a living including apricot drying, poultry, honey bee keeping, tailoring and weaving, silk and cashmere wool production and the introduction of fruit tree nurseries and greenhouses for vegetable production are proving successful.
	DFID is currently working on a community and household assessment to determine the impact of the development effort (both policy influence and direct programmes) and its potential contribution to reductions in poppy cultivation. DFID has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Central Statistics Office (CSO) to carry out an annual household survey over the next three years.

Post Deliveries

Mike Hancock: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what recent research the Commission has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the length of time it takes post to reach the Palace of Westminster following its receipt at Nine Elms sorting office; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: The House does not have access to records of when mail is received at Nine Elms. The House authorities do monitor the two contracts with regard to mail screening and internal mail delivery. Both of these contracts have key performance indicators. These show that all of the mail collected from Nine Elms on a given day is delivered within the Palace of Westminster by 2 pm that day, with over60 per cent. of the day's mail delivered within the Palace by the 8 am delivery and over 75 per cent. bythe 10 am delivery. Regular checks are made of the processes involved. A monitoring group made up of Officers from both Houses meets monthly to consider the performance against the contracts and the indicators have been met consistently in recent months following changes made by both contractors during the first full year of the new contracts. These changes have been aimed at maximising the volume of mail in the parliamentary deliveries in the early part of the day.

Confiscation of Criminal Assets Act

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been recovered under the Confiscation of Criminal Assets Act 2003(i) in total and (ii) in each police authority area, listed in descending order by amount recovered in each year since its introduction; and how much is in the process of being recovered.

Vernon Coaker: Information on the total amount of criminal assets recovered over the last three years is set out in table 1. Information on the value of cash forfeiture orders and confiscation orders obtained in each police authority area over the last three years under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and earlier legislation is set out in table 2. Confiscation orders are not enforced by police forces but by HM Courts Service and other enforcement authorities. Orders made in one year may be enforced in future years. The amounts in the process of recovery depend on a number of factors including appeal rights and time to pay considerations.
	
		
			  Table 1: Recovered criminal assets (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) 
			   Total recovered (£ million) 
			 2003-04 54.5 
			 2004-05 84.4 
			 2005-06 96.5 
			 Total 235.4 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Total value of cash forfeitures and confiscation orders obtained by police forces in England and Wales 2003-04 
			  Force  £ 
			 Metropolitan Police Service 5,950,410.55 
			 Bedfordshire Police 3,392,094.53 
			 West Yorkshire Police 2,874,164.65 
			 Greater Manchester Police 2,798,966.37 
			 Surrey Police 1,480,550.62 
			 Merseyside Police 1,217,852.89 
			 Kent Police 1,210,503.91 
			 City of London Police 1,200,282.09 
			 Thames Valley Police 1,182,132.20 
			 West Mercia Constabulary 1,180,461.28 
			 Leicestershire Constabulary 1,087,417.48 
			 Gloucestershire Constabulary 930,442.19 
			 Hertfordshire Constabulary 929,368.00 
			 Nottinghamshire Police 875,434.60 
			 Humberside Police 826,661.75 
			 West Midlands Police 819,117.30 
			 South Yorkshire Police 784,579.88 
			 Northumbria Police 691,770.20 
			 Sussex Police 652,221.26 
			 Avon and Somerset Constabulary 594,347.00 
			 Northamptonshire Police 556,066.08 
			 Staffordshire Police 373,784.34 
			 Hampshire Constabulary 298,447.77 
			 Cambridgeshire Constabulary 278,679.84 
			 Cheshire Constabulary 250,263.36 
			 Durham Constabulary 235,600.50 
			 Devon and Cornwall Constabulary 192,616.60 
			 British Transport Police 156,471.60 
			 Dorset Police 147,532.10 
			 Lincolnshire Police 143,411.38 
			 Suffolk Constabulary 137,649.75 
			 Dyfed-Powys Police 121,750.34 
			 Lancashire Constabulary 120,953.30 
			 Cumbria Constabulary 120,917.41 
			 North Wales Police 89,522.03 
			 Norfolk Constabulary 89,325.89 
			 Warwickshire Police 83,116.50 
			 South Wales Police 75,637.44 
			 Derbyshire Constabulary 71,140.10 
			 Gwent Police 52,140.42 
			 Wiltshire Constabulary 39,848.45 
			 Cleveland Police 19,140.04 
			 North Yorkshire Police 0.00 
			 Essex Police 0.00 
			 Total 34,332,793.99

Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of4 September from the hon. Member for Walsall, North in relation to his constituent's case ref: A 1102564.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 12 October 2006
	Iwrote to the hon. Member for Walsall, North on9 October 2006.

Drugs (Testing)

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what Government policy is on testing people for illegal drug use who have been arrested on suspicion of other crimes; and whether the powers of police forces vary between different areas in this regard.

Vernon Coaker: There is a well evidenced link between some offences, particularly those connected with acquisitive crime, and Class A drug misuse. It is Government policy to break that link and to move offenders out of crimeand into drug treatment.
	Individuals arrested or charged with committing a range of offences (referred to as "trigger" offences) in areas with high levels of acquisitive crime are tested for Class A drugs as part of the Government's Drug Interventions Programme (DIP). Trigger offences include acquisitive crime offences.
	Drug testing is one of a number of interventions aimed at identifying drug misusing offenders and persuading them to engage in drug treatment and support. Intensive elements of the programme, which include drug testing, are currently operational in 23 police force areas and 175 custody suites across England and Wales. Some 17,000 drug tests are conducted each month as part of the programme.

Immigration

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of Statefor the Home Department if he will place in the Library the background papers which led to his estimate of between 5,000 to 13,000 immigrants from the EU accession countries coming to the UK in 2004.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 25 July 2006
	There was no such estimate produced by either Ministers or officials from the Department prior to the enlargement of the European Union on 1 May 2004.
	Christian Dustmann, et al from the University College London produced a report entitled "The impact of EU enlargement on migrations flows" which was commissioned by the Home Office and published in June 2003. It contained estimates of the numbers of people expected to migrate to the UK from the new member states in the years following enlargement of the European Union on 1 May 2004. These are independent estimates and not Home Office figures.
	The report itself is available from the Department's Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/rdsolr2503.pdf.

Visas

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from each of the EU accession countries registered for UK work visas in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Liam Byrne: The Worker Registration Scheme (WRS), is not a scheme for issuing work visas, but a method of monitoring the impact on the UK economy of workers from eight accession states which joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. Individuals must register within one month of starting work and both the worker and employer receive a Worker Registration Scheme Certificate.
	The Accession Monitoring Report is the main source of statistical data on the Worker Registration Scheme (WRS). The latest report covers the period May 2004 to June 2006 and is available on the Home Office website at: www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/accession_monitoring_report
	
		
			  Nationality of applicants approved by quarter applied. July 2005 to June 2006 
			   Number of applicants 
			   Q3 2005  Q4 2005  Q1 2006  Q2 2006  Total 
			 Czech Rep 2,860 2,265 1,850 1,885 8,860 
			 Estonia 600 530 390 305 1,825 
			 Hungary 1,670 1,665 1,425 1,475 6,235 
			 Latvia 3,290 2,470 2,535 2,575 10,870 
			 Lithuania 5,720 4,485 4,210 4,075 18,490 
			 Poland 38,310 32,935 31,720 34,525 137,490 
			 Slovakia 6,375 5,045 4,275 4,970 20,665 
			 Slovenia 35 55 55 35 180 
			 Total 58,860 49,450 46,465 49,850 204,625 
			  Note:This table shows applicants approved rather than the total number of applications made. The figures are for initial applications only (not multiple applications, where an individual is doing more than one job simultaneously, nor re-registrations, where an individual has changed employers). All figures are rounded to the nearest five. Because of rounding, totals may not sum.

A and E

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance her Department has produced on the  (a) maximum or optimal geographical area and  (b) maximum or optimal population that a local accident and emergency department should cover.

Rosie Winterton: It is a matter for the local national health service to ensure that there is appropriate provision of urgent and emergency services that are responsive to people's needs. The Department launched on the 4 October a discussion on the "Direction of Travel for urgent care" and aims to produce an urgent and emergency care strategy in the first half of 2007.

Bowel Cancer Screening

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in rolling out the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme.

Rosie Winterton: Good progress has been made in rolling out the national bowel cancer screening programme.
	The programme consists of five programme hubs across England which will invite men and women to participate in the screening programme, send out the faecal occult blood (FOB) testing kits, analyse the returned kits and send out results. Ninety to 100 local screening centres will provide endoscopy services for the 2 per cent. of men and women who have a positive FOB test result.
	The five hubs have been confirmed as:
	Rugby—West Midlands and the North West—began operations in July 2006;
	Guildford—Southern—began operations in September 2006;
	St. Mark's—London—begins operations in October 2006;
	Gateshead—North East; and
	Nottingham—Eastern.
	All five hubs will be operational by March 2007.
	In addition to the hubs, the first six local screening centres have now been confirmed. Wolverhampton and Norwich began sending out invitations in July 2006, and South Devon and Liverpool began sending out invitations in September 2006. St. Mark's London is due to begin sending out invitations in October 2006, with St. George's London following in November 2006. The other eight sites due to become local screening centres in wave one of the programme, that is 2006-07, will be confirmed as soon as possible, when they have satisfied quality and capacity criteria.
	We will be writing to the new strategic health authorities (SHAs) shortly for them to bid for their local endoscopy units to become local screening centres as part of Wave two of the programme in 2007-08. It is up to SHAs to decide where local screening centres should be located for the benefit of their own populations.
	The bowel cancer screening programme is an ambitious project, and one of the first of its kind in Europe. When fully implemented, it will detect around 3,000 bowel cancer every year. We are committed to implementing this important programme.

Cancer Referrals

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) general practitioner urgent referrals and  (b) other referrals there have been for cancer treatment in each month since June 2005.

Rosie Winterton: Data is not collected centrally on routine referrals where the patient is subsequently diagnosed with cancer. Data is collected on urgent suspected cancer referrals to monitor performance of the two week out-patient waiting time standard. Data is published quarterly and the number of referrals is shown as follows.
	
		
			  Quarter  Number of urgent referrals 
			  2005  
			 July to September 137,471 
			 October to December 133,328 
			   
			  2006  
			 January to March 134,828 
			 April to June 145,460

Cannabis User Referrals

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the percentage change in the number of cannabis users' referrals to rehabilitation schemes was between 2002 and 2005.

Caroline Flint: The percentage change in the number of people entering drug treatment between 2003-04, the first year for which data are available, and 2005-06, the latest data, where cannabis has been identified asthe primary substance of misuse is an increase of117 per cent.
	As surveys on drug use amongst young people indicate that cannabis use among young people has remained stable over the past few years, the increased numbers in drug treatment as a result of cannabis use are almost certainly as a result of increased availability of treatment.

Child Obesity

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards meeting the public services agreement target of July 2004 that by 2010 the increase in obesity among children aged under 11 years will be halted.

Caroline Flint: The Department will track progress against the public service agreement (PSA) target on childhood obesity by using the body mass index trend data from the Health Survey for England. The baseline figure is 14.9 per cent. which is the weighted average for the three year period 2002-04. Progress against the target will be formally assessed once data from 2005-07 is aggregated.
	The Government have a range of ongoing initiatives to address the rising levels of childhood obesity. This includes raising awareness through the social marketing campaign aimed at families, targeting of existing universal programmes, such as the school sports strategy, healthy schools, and healthy start. In addition, we will shortly publish the national data from 2005-06 exercise to weigh and measure primary school children. This data will enable us to better performance manage and target local areas as part of our PSA delivery strategy.

Dentists

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the figure of 66 per cent. of capital expenditure for dentists wholly or mainly committed to the NHS was arrived at as the proposed maximum subsidy in Gateway 6844.

Rosie Winterton: The guidance given to the national health service on 12 July 2006 about the£100 million capital funding programme for primary care NHS dentistry did not propose a maximum NHS subsidy for capital investments made by dental practices. Rather, it gave illustrative examples of the contributions that primary care trusts (PCTs) might choose to make to capital investments made by dental practices, expressed as a percentage of the total cost of the investment.
	The example given for practices wholly or mainly committed to the NHS was 66 per cent. of expenditure, but PCTs are free to decide for themselves locally what proportion is appropriate in each case. Most practices that provide primary dental services are independent contractors, and their NHS contract payments—which are based on the recommendations of the Doctors and Dentists Pay Review Body—already cover not only the dentists' net income but also the expenses incurred in providing NHS dental services. Additional grants to practices to improve facilities, and which may enhance the practice assets, are often made on the basis ofa shared investment between the PCT and the contractor.

Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of staff and infrastructure at the Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust that will be surplus to requirements following the move of Kingston Hospital NHS Trust patients to the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, broken down by (a) clinical staff,  (b) nursing staff,  (c) scientificand technical staff,  (d) diagnostic equipment,  (e) treatment equipment and  (f) other.

Rosie Winterton: This is a local matter for the local national health service. The information requested is not held centrally.

Health Charges

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans her Department has to implement the recommendations of the Health Select Committee's report into health charges and in particular prescription charges.

Andy Burnham: The Departments response to the Health Committee's report on national health service charges has been laid before Parliament today.

Hospitals (Helicopter Access)

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which hospitals have a helicopter landing pad available for use by air ambulances; and what steps are being taken to increase the number of hospitals with that facility.

Rosie Winterton: The Department does not collect this data centrally. Decisions on whether to install or enhance landing facilities for helicopters are a matter for individual national health service trusts.

Private Finance Initiative

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 8 February 2006,  Official Report, columns 1325W-27W, on the private finance initiative, what the reasons are for the differences between the capital values listed in the answer and those in her Department's press release of 18 August 2006, entitled "Go-ahead for Billion Pound-plus Wave of New NHS Hospitals", for the schemes proposed by  (a) the University Hospitals of North Staffordshire NHS Trust,  (b) the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust,  (c) Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust,  (d) Tameside and Glossop Acute Services NHS Trust,  (e) Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust and  (f) South Devon Healthcare NHS Trust.

Andy Burnham: The principal reason for any change to the capital values of the schemes at the University Hospitals of North Staffordshire National Health Service Trust, the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust, Tameside and Glossop Acute Services NHS Trust, Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust and the South Devon Healthcare NHS Trust was that the review of private finance initiative (PFI) schemes led the trusts concerned to reconsider how their schemes could best be structured in order to deliver services in the most cost-effective way and ensure their long-term viability. A key part of this work was an assessment of the capacity assumptions to ascertain if these were realistic and properly suited to the needs of the local health economy; and a review of the estate in terms of current and planned building stock to ensure optimal use.
	In consequence all the schemes, with the exception of those at the Salford Royal NHS Trust and the Tameside and Glossop Acute Services NHS Trust, underwent structural changes, details of which have been published and are available locally.
	All the figures quoted are on a like-for-like basis except those given in relation to Salford RoyalNHS Trust, Tameside and Glossop Acute Services NHS Trust and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. The difference between the capital values given for the schemes at Salford Royal NHS Trust, and Tameside and Glossop Acute Services NHS Trust is because the capital values given in the August press release were at 2004-05 prices, and those given in the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Memberfor Liverpool Wavertree (Jane Kennedy) on the8 February,  Official Report, columns 1325-27W, were at final construction outturn prices.
	The February figure for the scheme at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust was the public sector comparator cost at preferred bidder stage which equated to a PFI outturn cost of £761 million. In addition building cost inflation and retail price index increases for the two years slippage in forecast financial close date took the cost to £911 million prior to the review commencing.

Private Finance Initiative

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the progress of the Private Finance Initiative scheme at Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust; whether an advert for the scheme has been placed in the Official Journal of the European Union; and when she expects work to commenceon site.

Andy Burnham: There are two private finance initiative schemes being taken forward at Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust.
	The outline business case for a new surgical centre, capital cost approximately £80 million, is being developed and is expected to be submitted to the Department for approval later in the year. The scheme has not yet placed a tender notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). It is too early to estimate likely dates for financial close and starton site.
	The full business case for the £18 million new cancer centre has received conditional approval from the local strategic health authority. The tender notice was placed in OJEU some time ago. Subject to resolving some final planning issues the scheme can proceed to financial close and start construction on site; this is expected in December.

Voluntary/Community Sector

Mike Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether she plans to revise the regulations affecting the voluntary and community sector.

Edward Miliband: The Government are keen to minimise the burden of regulations on the voluntary and community sector. The Charities Bill, which is due for Report stage in this parliamentary session, will make a number of deregulatory changes to charity law and regulation. Furthermore, the Government will outline its approach to reducing regulatory burdens for the sector in its response to the Better Regulation Task Force Report 'Better regulation for Civil Society'. This will be published shortly.

Afghanistan

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the implications for the UK of the record opium crop in Helmand in 2006; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The increase this year in the opium crop from Helmand and other southern provinces is worrying. It reflects the very difficult security situation and limited law enforcement capability in Afghanistan. We are supporting the Afghan Government to implement their National Drug Control Strategy. Progress is being made but sustainable drug elimination strategies take time. In areas of Afghanistan, where access to governance, security and development has improved, reductions in opium poppy cultivation achieved in 2005 have been sustained and in some cases improved upon.
	The effect of this year's increase in supplies of heroin to the UK is uncertain. Previous large fluctuations in the size of the opium crop in Afghanistan have led to no appreciable change in supply as measured by the UK average street price.

Afghanistan

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of the  (a) Wolesi Jirga and  (b) Meshrano Jirga in Afghanistan is female.

Kim Howells: There are 87 women in the 351 member National Assembly, inaugurated in December 2005.27 per cent. of the members of the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House) are women and 19 per cent. are in the Meshrano Jirga (Upper House).

Colombia

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what representations her Department has made to the Embassy of Colombia on the concerns of British trade unions over human rights in that country; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what policy advice her Department has offered the Embassy of Colombia related to the concerns of British trade unions over human rights in that country; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: We have wide-ranging discussions with the Colombian government, including with the embassy in London, on human rights issues which, take into account concerns raised by British trade unions and interlocutors from other non-governmental organisations, as well as their Colombian counterparts. Colombia is regularly raised at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)/Trades Union Congress Advisory Council which meets three times a year, and in other ad hoc exchanges between the FCO and British unions. We particularly welcome the joint agreement between the Colombian Government, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Colombian trade unions in June 2006 to establish a permanent ILO presence in Colombia. We encourage the Colombian government to ensure that the ILO has an effective presence in Colombia.
	We consistently urge the Colombian government to support and protect the role of trade unions in Colombia. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, raised our concerns with the Colombian government when he visited Colombia last month, and also met with a group of Colombian trade unionists to hear at first hand the issues they face, having met them earlier this year in London. Both the FCO and the Department for International Development have funded projects in support of trade unions in Colombia.

International Protection of Children

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Trilateral Agreement reached between the UK, Spain and Gibraltar on 18 September will enable the 1996 Hague Convention on the International Protection of Children to be ratified by EU member states; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The Trilateral Agreement reached in Cordoba on 18 September announced a historic set of measures which will deliver real, practical benefits to the people of Gibraltar as well as those in the Campo de Gibraltar. The arrangements cover Gibraltar's airport, telecommunications, traffic flows as well as a settlement to the long running issue of pensions paid to Spanish workers affected by the 1969 border closure.
	The ratification of the 1996 Hague Convention on the International Protection of Children is currently blocked because Spain has questioned the arrangements for communications under this convention with competent authorities in Gibraltar.
	There have been a number of attempts to resolve this problem as well as the broader issue of postboxing (whereby formal communications between Gibraltar competent authorities and their EU/European Economic Association European Free Trade Association counterparts under EU instruments, take place via the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London). It was discussed as part of the Trilateral process and while we were unable to reach agreement by 18 September all sides are committed to finding a solution. Negotiations are consequently at an advanced stage and we hope that a final agreement will be reached over the next month.

Israel

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 13 September 2006,  Official Report, columns 2314-5W, on Israel, what percentage of approved export licences to Israel were revoked as a result of this monitoring in the last year for which figures are available.

Kim Howells: Details of all export licences are available in the Quarterly and Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls submitted to Parliament and are subject to detailed retrospective scrutiny by the Quadripartite Committee on Strategic Export Controls. This includes a summary of goods by destination. All reports—from 1997—can be found on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website at: http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=l007029395474.
	In the latest published annual report, covering 2005, no export licenses issued to Israel were revoked. Given the way data is recorded, if there were any revocations, it would not be possible to identify how many were due to information originating from overseas Posts, this usually being one aspect of several taken into account when a licence is assessed.
	All export licence applications are judged rigorously against the Consolidated EU and National Export Licensing Criteria including risk assessment by all four Government Departments (the FCO, the Department for Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development) involved in the export licensing process. There are few revocations.

Middle East

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State forForeign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations her officials have made to the Israeli Government about the continued use of administrative detention by Israeli forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Geoff Hoon: In June and July, our embassy in Tel Aviv made representations to the Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs regarding the administrative detention of a disabled Palestinian prisoner.
	We constantly monitor the situation and are in contact with Human Rights and International organisations. An official from our embassy in Tel Aviv also attended the Israeli Supreme Court in July 2006to observe an appeal against his detention by a Palestinian administrative detainee.
	We will continue to raise this issue with the Israeli Government.

Middle East

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of Israeli military roadblocks in the Palestinian West Bank in October  (a) 2006 and  (b) 2005.

Kim Howells: We have no estimate of the number of roadblocks.
	According to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of 20 September 2006, the west bank closure system comprises 528 checkpoints and physical obstacles placed by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on roads to control and restrict Palestinian movement—representing an increase of almost 2 per cent. on the 518 obstacles in June 2006. In August 2005, OCHA reported that there were 376 physical obstacles. This represents an 11 per cent. increase in the number of physical obstacles erected by the IDF since the beginning of 2006 and almost 40 per cent. since August 2005.

Middle East

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what parts of the Palestinian West Bank are subject to Israeli restrictions which prevent access by Palestinians who are  (a) non-resident and  (b) not working in Israeli settlements in the area; and what percentage of the West Bank these areas represent.

Kim Howells: According to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, a combination of checkpoints, physical obstacles and a permit system has effectively cut the west bank into three distinct areas—north, central and southern west bank—in addition to east Jerusalem. Within these areas further enclaves have been created. These enclaves are bordered by checkpoints and roadblocks and this has led to Palestinian communities being separated.
	Many routes within the west bank are regulated by a system of permits. However, requirements to get permits to move from one area to another are increasingly difficult to meet and fewer permits are issued. Without warning, additional restrictions or closures can make permits invalid. Additional restrictions can be by age (usually 15 to 32-year-old males), by gender or by geographical area. These restrictions can be imposed at any checkpoints at any time. According to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation Negotiation Affairs Department, the barrier, settlements and restrictions on Palestinian access to the Jordan valley together prevent regular Palestinian access to at least 46 per cent. of the west bank. Their estimates are that the percentages of west bank land involved are: barrier 9.5 per cent., settlements 8 per cent. and Jordan valley 28.5 per cent.. Further information can be found on the following website: http://www.nad-plo.org/inner.php?view=facts_wall_isf.

Nicaragua

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with the United States Administration about the forthcoming elections in Nicaragua.

Geoff Hoon: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not discussed the forthcoming elections in Nicaragua with the United States Administration.
	Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have been involved in discussions about Nicaragua in the EU and the European Commission has sent a teamof EU Election Observers to Nicaragua for the presidential and congressional elections in November. Our embassy in San Jose, which also represents the UK in Nicaragua, is monitoring the campaign closely, as is the Department for International Development office based in Managua, Nicaragua. They have regular discussions with partners, including the EU and US, on the forthcoming elections.

Western Sahara

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps she plans to take to ensure that the UN publishes the latest report of the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights Mission to Western Sahara and the Refugee Camps in Tindouf; and what steps she plans to take to ensure the continuation of the role of the Special Representative for the Western Sahara.

Kim Howells: The Government are not aware of any plans on the part of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to publish a report on a visit by a delegation from her Office to Western Sahara in May.
	The UN Secretary-General is due to publish a report on the situation in Western Sahara on 18 October. We expect this report to cover developments over the past six months. The Government look forward to this report.
	The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative to Western Sahara is head of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. The UK will take an active role in the Security Council's discussions, in line with the Government's continued support to efforts to resolve the issue of the status of Western Sahara within the UN framework.

Zimbabwe

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the expropriations of farm land in Zimbabwe.

Ian McCartney: Mugabe's chaotic approach to land expropriation has severely damaged Zimbabwe's agricultural base. Despite abundant rains, the World Food Programme estimates that 1.4 million Zimbabweans will again require food assistance. The Government of Zimbabwe has ignored international calls to embark on a transparent, democratic land reform process. Instead, Mugabe's regime continues to seize land, recently issuing eviction notices to over 60 of the remaining commercial farmers in Zimbabwe.
	Together with our EU, Commonwealth and other international partners, we urge the Government of Zimbabwe to return to policies based on sound economic practise, democracy, and respect for the rule of law and human rights.

Psychiatric Care

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Northern Ireland how many  (a) children and (b) young adults from Northern Ireland were given a place at St. George's for treatment for (i) anorexia and (ii) other mental health conditions in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: Information on the number of (a) children,  (b) young adults aged 16-18 years and  (c) adults aged 19-21 who travelled from Northern Ireland to St. George's Hospital in London for treatment for (i) eating disorders from 2001-02 to 2005-06 is outlined in the following table. There were no patients, under 22 years of age, from Northern Ireland that went to St. George's Hospital in London for (ii) other mental health related conditions between 2001-02 and 2005-06.
	
		
			  Number of patients travelling from Northern Ireland to St. George's Hospital in London for eating disorders 
			  Financial year  (a) Children (under 16s)  (b) Young adults (16 to 18-year-olds)  (c) Adults aged 19-21 
			 2001-02 0 0 0 
			 2002-03 0 0 0 
			 2003-04 0 0 4 
			 2004-05 1 3 6 
			 2005-06 1 2 3 
			 Total 2 5 13 
			  Note: Children have been classified as persons aged 15 and under and young adults have been classified as persons aged 16-18. Figures for adults aged between 19 and 21 have also been included.  Source:  Health and Social Service Boards